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Parisian bridge weighed down by love

The locks only appeared on the Pont des Arts in 2008, having already become a craze in Germany, Russia, China, Italy and more recently on the Ha'penny Bridge in Dublin

Thousands of "locks of love" caused part of a railing on the bridge Pont des Arts to collapse forcing an evacuation.

Thousands of lovers from across the world visit the Pont des Arts every year and seal their love by attaching a lock carrying their names to its railing and throwing the key in the Seine.

But police were forced to hurriedly usher visitors off the footbridge in central Paris this evening after 2.4 metres of railing collapsed under the weight of the collected tokens of affection.

An architect and local officials rushed to the site and a barrier put in place to stop further access.

Police said the bridge would be re-opened tomorrow.

The Pont des Arts crosses the French capital's river Seine just in front of the Louvre museum and is known the world over for its "locks of love".

The phenomenon has become something of a headache for officials in the City of Light, who would prefer something that poses fewer problems of security and aesthetics.

Two young Americans living in Paris have gathered thousands of signatures for a petition they launched in March calling for the locks to be removed, saying they are eyesores and cause damage to the bridges.

The locks only appeared on the Pont des Arts in 2008, having already become a craze in Germany, Russia, China, Italyand most recently Ha'penny Bridge in Dublin.

Today, the full 150m length of the footbridge is covered in the locks, and the practice has spread to other bridges around the capital.